Islamabad , Pakistan -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Perhaps no one better understands what the family of U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords is going through like the widow and children of Punjab Governor Salmaan Taseer .

`` I mean , my heart is totally with the congresswoman , '' says daughter Sara Taseer . What do an American lawmaker from Arizona and a Pakistani governor have in common ? Both outspoken elected officials were gunned down in broad daylight , within days of each other .

Taseer died ; Giffords clings to life .

Separated by half a world , they are united by similar crimes .

Taseer was assassinated by his own security guard last week in Islamabad , Pakistan 's capital . He was coming out of a popular market when the guard , Mumtaz Qadri , opened fire and shot him 27 times .

Governor 's accused killer makes unscheduled court appearance

Taseer had been an outspoken critic of Pakistan 's blasphemy laws , which make it a crime to insult Islam or the Prophet Mohammad . He argued that in a country that 's 98 % Muslim , these laws are used to discriminate against minorites . That 's dangerous talk in a nation increasingly swayed by a more conservative brand of Islam , and several clerics targeted Taseer as a blasphemer himself . Qadri confessed in court Monday that he killed Taseer because of his support to change the blasphemy laws .

And that , Taseer 's family says , is where his shooting diverges from Giffords ' . Sara Taseer says , `` The difference is in Pakistan , this is not a message just to my father or my family . This is a message to all liberal and progressive people to keep quiet , and scare and intimidate them . '' She says Giffords ' shooting was an isolated incident , which has no chance of gaining popular support in the United States . `` The impact is different . And the fear among the people . I 'm sure in Arizona the general public is not feeling threatened , or not fearing that they can voice their views or openly condemn it . We are in a totally different situation . People who support us can lose their own lives . ''

Shooting rampage suspect to make first court appearance

Another difference : even Giffords ' political opponents publicly and forcefully condemned the man who shot her . The Republican Speaker of the House John Boehner went on TV to say , `` An attack on one who serves is an attack on all who serve . '' But in Pakistan , even Taseer 's supporters have been mostly silent : perhaps calling his loss a tragedy , but stopping short of criticizing the man who killed him . `` It 's because they fear for their lives , '' says Taseer 's son Shehryar . `` There 's also been a warning issued -LSB- by clerics -RSB- against anyone who has any further vigils , and anyone who takes up the case of the governor and his family , their offices will be burned and their person killed . '' Shehryar says that was the real tragedy of his father 's shooting : it 's forcing liberals to stay quiet and hide . `` I think they 'll be hunted . Without a doubt in my mind I believe that . ''

Taseer 's shooter has been hailed as a hero by many conservative Muslims in Pakistan . He has been cheered , and showered with rose petals on his way into court . `` That 's ... it makes me sick . It makes me sick to my stomach , '' says Taseer 's youngest daughter Shehrbano . `` Some people genuinely believe this was ` the right thing ' to have been done . That 's the most scary and upsetting aspect of it . It 's disgusting . ''

Shehrbano graduated from college in Massachusetts , and now works as a journalist in Pakistan . She reserves some of her strongest criticism for Pakistan 's legal system .

`` There were over 200 lawyers who went and put garlands and rose petals around my father 's assassin 's neck . And these men are the so-called vanguards of justice . '' Shehrbano has little to no faith that the Anti-Terrorism Court where Mumtaz Qadri is being tried will produce a fair result . `` They have a sorry record of convictions . The investigation teams , they do n't hand in enough evidence . The lawyers are scared . The judges are bribed . People are terrified of taking a stand . ''

Now his family is looking back at the life of Salmaan Taseer , a businessman and governor of one of the most-populated provinces in the world . His widow Amna says , `` When I started my marriage , he was arrested and put in a Lahore fort for four months . It was a very difficult period , but we made it through that . And it 's kind of ended in such a dramatic way also . But on top of it all I say one thing : that he was a great father and even better husband . '' The family says privately , they 've received thousands of messages , letters and visits to console them . Shehrbano says a Christian woman approached her after the assassination . `` She told me ` Your father was all we had . ' ''

They 're also looking ahead , to what legacy Taseer leaves for the future . His daughter Shehrbano says , `` I hope his passing does n't mean that the room for debate is over . I believe there 's room in the public sphere for moderates , for liberals . I really hope that this does n't mean that debate in Pakistan is over . ''

His son Shehryar says he refuses to back down from the causes his father stood for . `` It 's not a Taseer trait . Taseers are fighters . He believed in Pakistan too much to ever back down . In fact his last tweet was ` Even if I 'm the last one standing , I 'd still support it . ' ''

And daughter Sara says , `` He had a liberal and progressive and secular vision . And he ... this country needed him . This country needed people like him . The region needed people like him . The world , I think , needs people like him . ''

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Taseer and Giffords were both gunned down

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Taseer died while Giffords clings to life

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Daughter says father 's killing was message to liberals to keep quiet